Method for using pauses detected in speech input to assist in interpreting the input during conversational interaction for information retrieval

A method for using speech disfluencies detected in speech input to assist in interpreting the input, the method comprising:

• providing access to a set of content items, each of the content items being associated with metadata that describes the corresponding content item;
• receiving a speech input from a user, the input intended by the user to identify at least one desired content item;
• detecting a speech disfluency in the speech input;
• determining a measure of confidence of the user in a portion of the speech input following the speech disfluency based on a manner by which the user utters the portion of the speech input following the speech disfluency;
• upon a condition in which the confidence measure does not exceed a threshold value, determining an alternative query input by automatically replacing the portion of the speech input following the speech disfluency with another word or phrase and selecting a subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the speech input, the alternative query input, and the metadata associated with the subset of content items;
• upon a condition in which the confidence measure exceeds a threshold value, selecting the subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the speech input and the metadata associated with the subset of content items;
• and
• presenting the subset of content items to the user.

A method for using speech disfluencies detected in speech input to assist in interpreting the input, the method comprising:

• providing access to a set of content items, each of the content items being associated with metadata that describes the corresponding content item;
• receiving a speech input from a user, the input intended by the user to identify at least one desired content item;
• detecting front-end clipping of a first portion of a first word in a beginning of the speech input based on an absence of a period of silence in the beginning of the speech input, wherein the first portion is not detected in the speech input, the front-end clipping resulting in incomplete detection of the first word;
• in response to detecting the front-end clipping, identifying a second portion of the first word detected in the received speech input;
• identifying a plurality of whole words having a suffix matching the second portion detected in the received speech input;
• constructing a plurality of query inputs using the plurality of whole words;
• selecting a subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the plurality of query inputs and the metadata associated with the subset of content items;
• and
• presenting the subset of content items to the user.

A system for using speech disfluencies detected in speech input to assist in interpreting the input, the system comprising control circuitry configured to:

• provide access to a set of content items, each of the content items being associated with metadata that describes the corresponding content item;
• receive a speech input from a user, the input intended by the user to identify at least one desired content item;
• detect a speech disfluency in the speech input;
• determine a measure of confidence of the user in a portion of the speech input following the speech disfluency based on a manner by which the user utters the portion of the speech input following the speech disfluency;
• upon a condition in which the confidence measure does not exceed a threshold value, determine an alternative query input by automatically replacing the portion of the speech input following the speech disfluency with another word or phrase and select a subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the speech input, the alternative query input, and the metadata associated with the subset of content items;
• upon a condition in which the confidence measure exceeds a threshold value, select the subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the speech input and the metadata associated with the subset of content items;
• and
• present the subset of content items to the user.

A system for using speech disfluencies detected in speech input to assist in interpreting the input, the comprising control circuitry configured to:

• provide access to a set of content items, each of the content items being associated with metadata that describes the corresponding content item;
• receive a speech input from a user, the input intended by the user to identify at least one desired content item;
• detect front-end clipping of a first portion of a first word in a beginning of the speech input based on an absence of a period of silence in the beginning of the speech input, wherein the first portion is not detected in the speech input, the front-end clipping resulting in incomplete detection of the first word;
• in response to detecting the front-end clipping, identify a second portion of the first word detected in the received speech input;
• identify a plurality of whole words having a suffix matching the second portion detected in the received speech input;
• construct a plurality of query inputs using the plurality of whole words;
• select a subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the plurality of query inputs and the metadata associated with the subset of content items;
• and
• present the subset of content items to the user.